Light.
Endless, pale, and devoid of any warmth.
There are no stars here, no darkness, and not even the concept of time passing.
This is the "Outer Space" beyond the Omniverse, the crack between the origin and the end of all things.
The Beyond-Realm.
Buzz!
A space crack as black as ink, like a drop of concentrated ink spilled on a perfect sheet of white paper, abruptly tore open in this pure white world.
Immediately following, that flagship, the "emperor," with its extremely luxurious design and purple-gold color scheme, slowly sailed out of the crack.
On the viewing deck at the bow of the ship.
Frieza sat in his golden floating pod, holding a cup of wine, squinting his scarlet eyes somewhat uncomfortably.
"Tsk..."
Frieza raised his hand to block the ubiquitous white light before his eyes.
An expression of extreme disgust appeared on his face.
"This is the Beyond-Realm?"
"It's too white."
"It's like entering a rough house that hasn't been decorated yet, or a hospital morgue."
He shook his head, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest. "This monotonous and dull aesthetic is practically raping my eyes. It seems the owner of this place is a fellow with no taste."
Behind himz Thanos held a blade, watching the surroundings alertly.
Although it seemed empty here, his enhanced instincts told him that this place was full of danger.
In every inch of space, high-dimensional energy capable of annihilating galaxies surged.
"Slurp!"
An ill-timed sound of salivating broke the serious atmosphere.
Galacta leaned on the railing, her large eyes flashing with a light like a hungry wolf, staring fixedly at this white void.
"Smells so good..."
"The scent of delicious food is everywhere here."
"Boss, can I start eating? Even the air is sweet."
Looking at this worthless foodie, Frieza sighed helplessly. "What's the rush? Since we're here to collect protection fees... no, to collect property management fees, we must see the owner first."
Frieza floated out of the pod.
His white suit was almost invisible in this white world. Only his purple skin and scarlet eyes appeared exceptionally eerie.
"Hey!"
Frieza cleared his throat, and his voice, amplified by the Infinity Stones, turned into a mental storm that instantly swept through the entire Beyond-Realm.
"Is anyone home?"
"Your new landlord is here to check the water meter."
"If you don't come out to welcome me, I'll assume you've abandoned the property and fled, and I'll just start the forced demolition."
Rumble!
The voice echoed in the void, causing the surrounding energy mist to surge wildly.
However, no one responded.
"Oh?"
Frieza raised an eyebrow, the smile at the corners of his lips gradually becoming dangerous.
"Playing deaf and dumb?"
"Or is it that you look down on me?"
"Since we're here..."
Frieza slowly raised his right hand, and at the tip of his index finger, a small pitch-black sphere was rapidly condensing.
"Then I'll give you something to listen to."
Just as Frieza was prepared to casually throw a black hole to blast the fish pond.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Ripples suddenly appeared in the void ahead.
Three tall figures emerged without warning.
They had no facial features and no expressions. Their entire bodies were composed of some unknown white ivory-like substance, exuding a coldness and arrogance that stood above all things.
Beyonders!
Also known as the legendary—Ivory Kings!
Each of these three fellows exuded an aura that was even a level stronger than the Living Tribunal.
"Anomaly Code."
The Beyonder in the center spoke.
It wasn't a language, but a certain high-dimensional information stream acting directly on the mind.
"Bacteria from a low-dimensional Universe, you should not have set foot here."
"This is God's experimental field, not a monkey's playground."
That tone eas like a human looking at a lab rat that accidentally crawled into the laboratory.
Full of a natural condescension.
"Bacteria?"
"Monkeys?"
Frieza was stunned for a moment.
Immediately after, his shoulders began to heave violently.
"Pfft..."
"Oh ho ho ho..."
"Hahahahaha!"
Frieza laughed towards the sky, laughing so hard that tears almost came out.
He pointed at the three expressionless Beyonders and turned to say to ask, "Thanos, did you hear that?"
"These three faceless monsters actually called me a 'monkey'?"
"This is simply the funniest joke I've ever heard in my life."
Thanos's face instantly darkened.
The blade in his hand emitted a hum, thirsting for blood.
"Lord Frieza!"
"Please allow your subordinate to go into battle!"
"I will knock out the teeth of these three white-skinned monsters one by one and make them into a necklace for you!"
As Frieza's number one loyal dog, the master's humiliation is the servant's death. These fellows dared to insult the Lord, this was trampling on his, Thanos's, faith.
"Go ahead."
Frieza waved his hand casually, as if letting a dog loose to bite someone.
"Don't kill them."
"The material looks quite special. Leave the corpses intact, I want to study if they can be used as tiles for my new palace."
"As you command!"
Boom!!!
Thanos wasted no more words, and the deck beneath his feet instantly cracked.
He turned into a purple-gold meteor, and slammed fiercely towards the three Beyonders.
"Brute force of a low-dimensional being."
The Beyonder on the left slightly raised a hand.
There were no energy fluctuations, just a thought.
"Reality, stripped."
Buzz!
On Thanos's charge path, space suddenly disappeared.
It wasn't shattered, but directly became "nothingness." It was as if a line drawn on paper had been erased by an eraser.
Thanos felt his feet go empty, and he instantly lost weight. That dimensional pulling force, enough to tear apart a Titan's body, squeezed his body frantically.
"A trivial trick!" Thanos roared.
The blade in his hand suddenly lit up with purple light—it was the Power Stone embedded in it.
"Open!!!"
Crack!
That piece of stripped reality was actually forcibly "slashed" back by Thanos with brute force.
The purple slash traversed the void, aiming straight for the Beyonder's head.
"Hmm?"
That Beyonder obviously didn't expect this low-dimensional being to break through the dimensional lockdown.
He wanted to dodge, but Thanos was too fast. Having been strengthened multiple times by Frieza, Thanos's current combat power had long surpassed the Single-Universe Level.
Clang!!!
The blade slashed heavily onto the Beyonder's shoulder and sparks flew everywhere.
That Beyonder was sent staggering back several steps by this strike, and a tiny crack actually appeared on that pure white, flawless body.
"Injured?"
"The experimental subject poses a threat."
The other two Beyonders finally moved.
They had no anger, only calm judgment like a machine program.
"Execute Purge Program."
Boom! Boom!
Two pure white energy waves, without any impurities, blasted directly at Thanos.
That was Beyond Energy!
It was an energy form one dimension higher than even the Infinity Stones.
Thanos felt the hair all over his body stand on end.
He blocked with his blade.
Bang!
He was blasted away, crashing heavily into the emperor's shield, causing the entire ship to shake.
"Cough, cough..."
Thanos spat out a mouthful of purple blood, but the battle intent in his eyes burned even brighter.
"Interesting!"
"This is what's worthy of being my whetstone!"
Just as Thanos was prepared to charge again—
"Hungry..."
A resentful voice sounded behind him.
"Director, are you finished fighting?"
Galacta wiped the drool from the corner of her lips, her eyes staring fixedly at the three Beyonders, as if looking at three walking cream popsicles.
"The scent on them... is so fragrant."
"That is extremely high-purity Universe Origin Energy."
"Can I eat?"
Thanos paused, looking at this foodie somewhat speechlessly.
"Don't steal my kill!"
"To each their own!"
"Alright!" Galacta cheered.
The next second, her form instantly changed. Her originally petite human form disappeared. In its place was a vast and boundless cosmic deity form wearing purple armor.
A phantom of a giant mouth large enough to swallow star systems appeared behind her.
"It's dinner time!"
Galacta took a deep breath.
Whoosh—
The energy flow of the entire Beyond-Realm began to converge towards her mouth.
The three Beyonders didn't even have time to finish off Thanos before they felt the energy in their bodies draining uncontrollably.
"Energy siphoning?"
"This is... the power of the World-Eater? No, more advanced than that."
The Beyonders finally showed a hint of solemnity.
But it wasn't over yet.
Although Thanos and Galacta were strong, facing three Beyonders, they could only barely maintain a stalemate. After all, the opponents were beings capable of instakilling the Celestials.
"Oh my..."
Frieza downed the wine in his cup.
"It seems this bone is a bit harder than I thought."
"In that case..."
Frieza slowly stood up and stretched his wrists.
Beneath that pure white skin, a brilliant diamond luster faintly shone through.
"Then let me put an end to this farce."
BOOOOOM!!!
A terrifying pressure, standing above the entire Beyond-Realm, suddenly descended.
Frieza's diamond-like eyes reflected the figures of the three Beyonders. The corners of his lips curled slightly, his voice gentle.
"Hello, little lab rats."
"I have personally come to give you a 'physical examination'."
"Are you ready to dance?"